Capstone

MENV Students Prepare to Launch Capstone Projects

Myles Maland — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:58:44 +0000

MENV Students Prepare to Launch Capstone Projects Myles Maland Fri, 04/10/2026 - 13:58

Ash Lehto

Who would not want to combine a beautiful summer in Colorado with collaborating on impactful sustainability projects? This is exactly what a summer in the Masters of the Environment, a graduate professional sustainability program, looks like. As the Spring semester wraps up, MENV students are about to launch their official Masters Capstone Projects.

A Capstone Team with Resource Central standing in front of their presentation. Photo credit: Gregor McGregor

On Friday, April 10th, 25 Capstone Teams presented the plans for their Capstone projects to the MENV community. Kaila Hood, an MENV student, reflected on the event, “The presentations were a good way to share what we’ve been working on and learn more about our peers’ projects. It made me excited for the summer and ready to dive in with my teammates and partners!”

Two capstone students drink coffee while debriefing with Meghan McCarroll, a capstone advisor.

The MENV Capstone partners student teams of two to four with government entities, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and private companies to tackle sustainability issues across a variety of sectors. This year’s cohort of nearly 80 students is MENV’s tenth Capstone cohort – and that’s something worth celebrating! This year’s Capstone Partners include repeat partners such as the Aspen Global Change Institute, OneEnergy, and the Town of Erie, as well as many new partners including Leitner-Poma of America, Mountain Towns 2030, and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Some of the projects build on the work done by teams in prior years: last year, the Colorado State Forest Service and Governor’s Office of Climate Preparedness and Disaster Recovery partnered with MENV students to identify communities in Colorado that would benefit from an increased urban forest canopy to mitigate the impacts of climate change and performed pilot projects in communities to identify best communication methods. This year, the collaboration continues as the new student team develops a project toolkit for urban foresters that includes funding and implementation guidelines and an interactive, regionally-organized database on recommended tree species and resources.

MENV program thoughtfully incorporates opportunities for students to mentor each other – in this case, second year students who completed their Capstone last year were also invited to offer feedback on this year’s presentations. “I really valued watching the Capstone presentations as a second year, especially because I got to be in the same room as my Capstone Advisor from last year,” says Erin Bucchin, who sat in on three presentations. “It felt very full-circle, and it was amazing to see how different projects can be - where mine was so stakeholder engagement and research-focused, all the projects I sat in on were field- and land-based. And yet, many of the considerations, questions, and pieces of advice were the same to these teams as they were to mine a year ago.”

Capstone Advisors, MENV faculty members and industry professionals, facilitated discussion in the nine concurrent presentation sessions. "It was exciting to watch students think through complex challenges across the sustainability spectrum, taking time to deeply understand their project scope before jumping in. That early focus on understanding the scope sets them up well for the kind of consultative approach that effective sustainability work demands in the real world. The first-years are clearly up to the challenge, and I can't wait to watch the projects unfold throughout the year!" Maria McDonald, founder of Footprint Sustainability and an instructor for several MENV courses, and a first-time advisor for the capstone program, reflected on her experience.

Post-presentation discussion with the Colorado State Forest Service capstone team. Photo credit: Gregor McGregor

After this event, the teams will finalize their Scopes of Work with their partners and start the work. With summer just around the corner, students are eager to get started on their projects – all of which offer actionable insights and impactful deliverables to Capstone Partners on the Front Range and beyond!

MENV students are launching their summer Capstone Projects, partnering with organizations to tackle real-world sustainability challenges. At an April event, 25 teams presented project plans, highlighting collaboration, peer learning, and diverse approaches. Now in its tenth year, the Capstone connects nearly 80 students with public and private partners. Following presentations and feedback, teams will finalize scopes and begin work, delivering actionable sustainability solutions across Colorado and beyond.

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2019 Capstone Feature: Food Waste Awareness Week

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 18:22:31 +0000

2019 Capstone Feature: Food Waste Awareness Week Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/30/2019 - 12:22

Marissa Miller

Over the course of the year, MENV will feature various Capstone Projects to keep the community updated on the accomplishments of our students and partner organizations. The Capstone is the centerpiece of the MENV program and is a year-long project that partners students with an organization from the public, private, or non-profit sector. Students gain real-world, professional experience that serves as a springboard for their future careers.

Capstone Project: Food Waste Awareness Week

Partner Organization: City of Boulder

Student Team: Sarah Ditton and Skye Fabrizio

Food Waste Awareness Week, a partnership between the City of Boulder and Boulder County, grew in its outreach and impact in its second year thanks to MENV students Sarah Ditton and Skye Fabrizio. In partnership with Jamie Harkins with the City of Boulder Climate Initiatives team, the group drove the effort to create robust events and a social media campaign in order to drive awareness for their topic, food waste.

As Sustainable Food Systems students in the MENV program, focusing on food waste was a way to explore a symptom of what they believe is an unjust food system. For Sarah, food waste is the reason she decided to be a part of the MENV program. She found her passion for food waste after graduating from Cornell and volunteering at a food rescue organization, “All I did was sort raspberries, but it was one of the most satisfying experiences I had ever had because everyone was so passionate and excited to be working on something they believed in.” For Skye, the links between food waste and food security drive her passion for this project. Skye explained, "After realizing that around 40% of food produced is not eaten and 13% of Colorado’s population suffers from food insecurity, it seems like an incredibly silly problem. Crafting ways to waste less food by feeding more people and reducing greenhouse gas emissions need to be at the forefront of our nation’s food policy initiatives."

The pair spent their summer creating three main events for Food Waste Awareness Week; a “Food Waste Challenge" for local restaurants, encouraging the use of World Wildlife Fund weeklong lesson plans for Boulder Valley School District schools, and hosting several panels focused on various aspects of the food system. The keynote event, Talking Food Waste: Moving the Conversation Forward, was the highlight of the week. Sarah and Skye worked hard to bring a group of experts together to talk about the necessary change in implementing ideas and solutions in the food waste space, while also inspiring action. The event had a great turnout and sparked loads of excitement for many members of the audience.

We caught up with Sarah and Skye at the end of the week to ask the one thing the public needs to do to have better food waste practices. “Vote!” they say, “Ask questions of politicians. No politician should be voted into office unless they have a comprehensive food policy that steers our food system to one that takes care of us and the planet instead of corporate interests. After you’ve done this, on an individual level, don’t feel scared to ask for smaller portion sizes and make sure to eat your leftovers!” If you’d like to learn more about food waste, start by exploring the content on their website, Boulder.Earth/food-waste. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on details for next year’s event. Awesome job on a fantastic capstone project, Sarah and Skye!

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MENV Alumni Publish Informative NREL Report

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 19:20:07 +0000

MENV Alumni Publish Informative NREL Report Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 09/21/2019 - 13:20

NREL

Anna Kaelin and Jeremy Stefek, from the very first MENV cohort, have worked hard over the past three years studying the economic impacts of the Rush Creek Wind Farm. This research originally stemmed from Anna and Jeremy’s capstone with NREL. Along with their colleagues, Suzanne Tegen, Owen Roberts, and David Keyser, their work was published this past week. The article about their work, written by NREL, has been posted and linked below:

Colorado Case Study Demonstrates In-State and Rural Economic Impacts from Wind Manufacturing and Plant Construction

Sept. 16, 2019

In-state wind turbine manufacturing and installation support both short-term and long-term jobs and account for other economic impacts, according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) case study of Xcel Energy’s 600-MW Rush Creek Wind Farm—Colorado's largest wind energy project. NREL researchers who conducted the study also gained a deeper understanding of how wind plant construction impacts the economies of rural communities, where wind plant construction often occurs.

The recently published report, Economic Impacts from Wind Energy in Colorado—Case Study: Rush Creek Wind FarmPDF, provides the results of quantitative and qualitative analyses. By using modeled and empirical data, the NREL team developed an informative picture of the economic impacts of wind energy development in rural Colorado—results that could apply to other states as well.

Highlighting the importance of domestic manufacturing, the study focused on the economic impact of jobs, earnings, gross domestic product (GDP), and gross economic output during the relatively short construction phase and the longer-term operation and maintenance phase.

“Rush Creek is unique because its 300 2-megawatt (MW) wind turbines were all manufactured in Colorado facilities,” said Jeremy Stefek, NREL researcher and lead author of the report. “This gave us the opportunity to study the jobs and economic activity supported by wind energy’s manufacturing and supply chain in Colorado.”

The Rush Creek Wind Farm spans four rural counties on the Colorado's eastern plains (see Figure 1). Installing wind turbines manufactured in the same state increased the farm’s economic impacts to Colorado. Using an in-state manufacturer also decreased transportation time and costs, as wind turbine components were delivered to the installation site by truck rather than rail. Wind turbine components, such as the blades, towers, and nacelles, were manufactured and assembled in Colorado using several in-state suppliers for subcomponents. Some parts and materials, however, were sourced from out of state. For example, nacelles were assembled in Colorado, but the subcomponents within the nacelles (such as generators and electronics) were manufactured elsewhere.

Figure 1. The four-county area of the Rush Creek Wind Farm in relation to Colorado manufacturing facilities for MHI Vestas.

Quantitatively, NREL’s Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Wind Energy Model was used to estimate the gross economic impacts from the Rush Creek Wind Farm. JEDI models are user-friendly screening tools that estimate some of the economic impacts of energy projects.

Using empirical data, modeled data, and market research, NREL researchers created a set of assumptions to represent the economic scenario for the Rush Creek Wind Farm. Based on the analysis, the Colorado statewide economic impacts from Rush Creek are shown in Figure 2. Another JEDI analysis estimates the economic impacts of Rush Creek in the area where the development is located.

Figure 2. Summary of statewide economic impacts from the 600-MW Rush Creek Wind Farm supported during the construction phase and operating years.

The JEDI analysis shows that it's not just the construction phase of a wind plant that creates economic impact. The Rush Creek Wind Farm will support 180 long-term jobs and $20 million in GDP in Colorado annually throughout the operation and maintenance phase of its anticipated 25-year lifespan. In addition, Rush Creek will provide an estimated $45 million in landowner lease payments and approximately $62.5 million in property taxes during the 25-year life of the project.

Qualitatively, researchers interviewed 39 community members near the Rush Creek Wind Farm to collect empirical economic data as well as first-hand knowledge of community-level impacts during wind farm construction. Interviewees included local business owners, managers, employees, county commissioners, and economic development office representatives. Providing insight into actual effects of the wind farm on the local people and economy, most interviewees stated that the Rush Creek Wind Farm is one of the reasons business had increased over the past year.

"Our research into economic development from wind energy in rural communities can inform other communities across America as they consider future wind development,” Stefek said. “The idea of engaging communities to understand the on-the-ground effects of wind development makes this research unique and offers a powerful message about wind energy’s economic impact.”

The empirical research found that:

67% of businesses experienced increases in revenue from the previous year—and 11% saw significant increases
28% of respondents hired new people in the previous year
56% of employees worked more hours than the previous year.

Although interviewees were overall supportive of wind development, many reported challenges from wind farm construction stemming from the influx of temporary workers to their communities, including:

Local housing shortages
Increased housing prices
Lack of infrastructure to house temporary workers
Inability for some local businesses to keep up with increased demand
A small pool of qualified local candidates from which to hire.

However, even in the face of these challenges, community members indicated that local businesses and business development organizations support wind construction.

By considering the results of this Colorado case study, rural communities can be better informed and prepared to maximize local economic benefits of future wind development and address the challenges as well

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